My thoughts on the Phillies season.

Phils hold on to win a wild shoot out in Denver, as they defeat the Rockies, 12-11.

The Phils, after trailing early, takes the lead after a nine run outburst in the seventh, before hanging on to win a wild on in Denver, as they defeat the Rockies, 12-11.

The Rockies took the lead in the second as, with two men on base, and with nobody out, Chris Iannetta hits a three-run home run, his eighth home run of the season, scoring Melvin Mora, who had earlier singled, and had moved up to second on Chase Utley’s fielding error of Seth Smith’s grounder, and Smith, who was safe on Utley’s error, giving the Rockies a 3-0 lead. Two batters later, with two men out, Dexter Fowler made it a 4-0 Rockies’ lead with a solo home run, his fourth home run of the season. The Phils cut the Rockies’ lead to 4-1 in the fourth as, with a runner on second, and with two men out, Raul Ibanez hits an RBI single, scoring Jayson Werth, who had earlier singled, and then moved up to second on Ianetta’s passed ball. The Phils then made it a 4-2 Rockies’ lead in the fifth as, with the bases loaded, via Joe Blanton being hit by the pitch, then moving up to second as Eric Young, Jr. threw the ball away as he tried to forced him out at second on a Jimmy Rollins grounder, and then a single by Placido Polanco, moving both men up a base, and with one man out, Utley hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Blanton. The Rockies got both runs back in their half of the fifth as Carlos Gonzalez started the inning off with a lead-off home run, his thirty-first home run of the year, giving the Rockies a 5-2 lead. Four batters later, with runners on the corners, and with one man out, Smith hits an RBI single, scoring Troy Tulowitzki, who had earlier walked, and then went to third on Mora’s single, making it a 6-2 Rockies’ lead, while sending Mora, who had just singled, up to second base. The Phils cut the Rockies’ lead back down to 6-3 as, with the bases once again loaded, via single by Werth and Ibanez, a 4-6 force out on a Shane Victorino grounder, wiping out Ibanez at second, a stolen base by Victorino and a walk by Brian Schneider, and with one man out, Werth scored as pinch hitter Mike Sweeney is hit by a pitch, while both Victorino and Scheneider moved up a base. The Rockies got the run back in their half of the sixth as, with the bases loaded, via a single by Chris Nelson, a bunt single by Young, Jr., moving Nelson to second base, and then a bunt single by Fowler, moving up a base both Nelson and Young, Jr, and with one man out, Tulowitzki hits an RBI infield single off of Antonio Bastardo’s glove, scoring Nelson, making it a 7-3 Rockies lead, while moving Young, Jr. to third and sending Fowler to second. Then in the seventh the Phils’ offense exploded for nine runs, taking the lead. The Phils made it a 7-4 Rockies’ lead as, with one man on, and with nobody out, Utley hits an RBI single, scoring Polanco, who had earlier doubled. After Utley moved up to second on a Joe Beimel wild pitch, Ryan Howard hits a two-run home run, his twenty-fifth home run of the year, making it a 7-6 Rockies’ lead. One batter later, Werth tied the score at seven-all as he hits a solo home run, his nineteenth home run of the year. Three batters later, with runners on the corners, and with one man out, pinch hitter Ben Francisco hits an RBI single, knocking in Victorino, who had earlier singled, then went to third on Schneider’s single, giving the Phils an 8-7 lead, while sending Schneider, who had just singled, up to second base. Three batters later, after the Phils had loaded up the bases again, as Rollins hits a single, moving both Schneider and Francisco up a base, and now with two men out, Utley hits a grand-slam home run, his twelfth home run of the year, scoring Schneider, Francisco and Rollins, giving the Phils a 12-7 lead. The Rockies came back in their half of the seventh as, with one man on, and with one man out, Jonathan Herrera hits an RBI single, scoring Smith, who had earlier doubled, making it a 12-8 Phils’ lead. Two batters later, with runners on second and third, and with still one man out, Fowler hits an RBI single, knocking in Herrera, who had stopped at third on Young, Jr.’s double, and Young, Jr., who had just doubled, making it a 12-10 Phils’ lead. The Rockies made it a 12-11 Phils’ lead in the ninth as, with runners on the corners and with nobody out, Tulowitzki hits into a force out, 4-6, knocking in Fowler, who was earlier safe at first on Howard’s fielding error, then went to third on Gonzalez’s single, while Gonzalez, who had just singled, was wiped out at second. After Todd Helton is walked, moving Tulowitzki up to second base, Brad Lidge finally recorded his nineteenth save of the season by striking out Clint Barmes, swinging, before getting Ryan Spilborghs to hit into a force out, 5-unassisted, as he beat Tulowitzki to the third base bag.

Joe Blanton receives a no-decision as he pitches four and a third innings, giving up six runs, four of which were earned, on ten hits and two walks, while he struck out three. David Herndon pitches two-thirds of an inning, getting out both man that he would face. Antonio Bastardo gets the win as he pitches an inning, giving up a run on four hits, while striking out one. His record is now 1-0 with a 5.79 ERA. Chad Durbin pitches an inning, giving up three runs on four hits, striking out a batter. J.C. Romero records his eighth hold of the season as he pitches a third of an inning, walking a batter, Jose Contreras receives his eleventh hold of the year, as he pitches two-thirds of an inning, giving up a hit and a walk. Brad Lidge records his nineteenth save of the season as he gives up an unearned run on a hit and a walk, while striking out a batter. Jhoulys Chacin also receives a no-decision as he pitches five and a third innings, giving up three runs, only one of which were earned, on five hits, two walks and two hit batters, while striking out three. Matt Belisle records his seventeenth hold as he pitches two-thirds of an inning, walking a batter and hitter a batter. Joe Beimel pitches to three batters, giving up three runs on three hits and a wild pitch. Manny Delcarmen blew his third save attempt of the season before taking the lost as he pitches a third of an inning, giving up four runs on four hits. His record is now 3-3 with a 5.48 ERA. Matt Reynolds pitches two-thirds of an inning, giving up two runs on two hits. Rafael Betancourt and Huston Street pitches two scoreless innings, giving up a hit (Betancourt), while striking out two (one each).

The Phils had fifteen hits in the game, with Jayson Werth leading the team with three hits, two singles and a solo home run, knocking in a run. Placido Polanco, Jayson Werth, Raul Ibanez and Shane Victorino each followed with two hits apiece, with Polanco’s hits being a single and a double, Utley’s hits being a single and a grand-slam home run, knocking in six runs, one by a sac fly, while Ibanez and Victorino’s hits were all singles, as Ibanez knocks in a run. Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Brian Schneider and pinch hitter Ben Francisco had the other four Phils’ hit, with Rollins, Schneider and Francisco’s hits being singles, with Francisco knocking in a run, while Howard’s hits was a two-run home run. Mike Sweeney had the other Phil RBI, as it came in as he was hit by the pitch with the bases loaded. The Phils’ offense had a one-inning scoring outburst, after scoring one run for three straight innings to close the gap.

The Phils (76-58, 2d East) begin a three-game series with the Brewers (62-71, T-3rd Central), starting with a night game tonight. The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and will start at 7:05 pm Eastern. The Phils will send to the mound Cole Hamels (8-10, 3.31), who is coming off a win against the Padres on August 29, as he pitched eight shut out innings, giving up just four hits, while striking out six, in the Phils’ 5-0 win. In his last three starts, his record is 1-1 with a no-decision, as he pitched twenty innings, giving up seven runs on sixteen hits and two walks, while striking out thirteen. Hamels will be trying for his second straight win, while hoping that the offense will continue to score runs for him. The Brewers will counter with Chris Capuano (2-2, 5.06), who is coming off a no-decision against the Pirates on August 28, as he went three innings, giving up six runs on six hits and three walks, while striking out five, in the Brewers’ 8-7 win. In his last three appearances, his record is 1-0 with a no-decison, as he pitched seven and two-thirds innings, giving up six runs on six hits and a walk, while striking out nine. He will be trying to recover from his outing against the Pirates. The Phils will be out to win their last series against a non-Eastern Division rival.

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